In a new interview with Radio YSKL FM (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell revealed that his cancer has returned following the failure of a donor stem cell transplant. “There’s only been one time that I felt [cancer] was going to kill me. In the winter of 2023 I got really scared about what was happening and the pace at which it was happening. And I realized at that point that I had to do a donor transplant. It was my only hope to survive.
“I did that in January of ’25 — I did a donor transplant. Unfortunately, it didn’t stick. So the cancer has returned. And I’m continuing treatments to manage it.
“I’ll probably have to do another transplant within a few years with another donor, to try and see if maybe that would cure me. But in the meantime I’m certainly not slowing down. I’m doing as much with my life as possible; not just with Def Leppard and with Last In Line. I’m also rally driving — I always wanted to do that. I love cars and I love driving. As a child I thought, ‘If I don’t play guitar for a living, I’m gonna be a race car driver.’ I’m very, very, very fortunate and blessed that I get to do both.”
Asked about advice for others faced with a cancer diagnosis, Campbell said: “I’ve met people in my life who think, ‘Oh, I can’t do anything. I need to stay in bed. I can’t eat this. I can’t do that. I can’t go there.’ I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always felt like I’m gonna continue to live my life as much as possible — in fact, even more so. But I also consider myself very fortunate because I caught my cancer early; it’s always been more about managing my cancer.
“So, yeah, life is for the living. And I encourage everyone — if you’re unfortunate enough to get a cancer diagnosis — to overcome the fear. Fear is inevitable when you’re first told those words. But once you get over that, you’ve got to realize just how to manage it and how to deal with it as best as possible. And just don’t give in.”
Campbell was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013. He has continued performing with Def Leppard throughout his treatment, and also fronts the band Last In Line, which features fellow Dio alumni Vinny Appice and Phil Soussan.
Campbell’s career spans membership in Dio (1982–1984), Whitesnake (1987–1989) and Def Leppard, which he joined in 1994 as the replacement for the late Steve Clark. He has been a member of Def Leppard for more than three decades.
Guitarist Nita Strauss is returning to the stage this weekend to kick off her seventh season performing at Los Angeles Rams NFL games, continuing one of the most recognizable partnerships between rock music and professional sports.
This season also brings some extra energy as Josh Villalta — Strauss‘ husband, manager, and drummer — will be performing at the games by her side.
A drummer and performer in his own right, Villalta has spent years sharing stages with Strauss while also playing an integral role as manager behind the scenes in her career. His new role as drummer brings another live music element to the Rams‘ game day experience and puts the longtime musical duo side by side on one of the biggest stages in professional sports.
“To be brought in this year is an incredible honor. The Rams organization has been amazing to Nita and me over the years, so having the opportunity to officially join her makes this even more special. I’m excited to bring a new element to the game day experience. I have some cool ideas in mind, and I can’t wait for the fans to see and hear what we bring to the stadium this season.”
Strauss has become a defining musical presence at Rams home games over the past seven seasons, bringing her high-octane performances to one of the NFL‘s biggest stages. Her tenure with the organization has included the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI championship and her own Super Bowl ring.
“There’s only one thing better than playing your hometown stadium, and that’s doing it with your partner by your side. Josh takes every live performance to another level and I’m so excited for the fans at Sofi to get to experience it! Can’t wait to rock the Rams House together!”
Widely regarded as one of the premier guitarists of her generation, Strauss‘ career includes a #1 song at rock radio, more than 11 million streams across her solo catalog, worldwide magazine covers, signature instruments and products with Ibanez, D’Addario, Levy’s and DiMarzio, and a résumé that includes Alice Cooper, Demi Lovato and WWE.
The 2026 season comes during an already unforgettable year for Strauss and Villalta, who welcomed their son, Maxwell, in June. Now, the longtime musical partners and new parents will add another first as they take the Rams field together.
Catch Nita Strauss and Josh Villalta live this Saturday, August 22, as the Los Angeles Rams take on the New Orleans Saints in the home opener at SoFi Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 pm PT.
In the immortal words of Hank Williams Jr.: “Are you ready for some football?:
Dogstar, the alt-rock trio featuring Keanu Reeves on bass, returns to the Philadelphia region this week with three shows in support of its new album All In Now — capping a run that marks the band’s sustained revival after roughly two decades away from recording. The dates include a stop inside a casino-resort complex in Atlantic City, a theater in Hershey, and a club night in Philadelphia proper, all confirming that the reunion is no one-off nostalgia event.
Atlantic City Rock Night and What It Means for Fans Watching From Abroad
The Atlantic City date lands at Sound Waves at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, per The Philadelphia Inquirer, placing the concert directly inside a resort where a casino floor is steps from the stage. That combination is definitional to Atlantic City’s entertainment identity: a rock gig and a gaming room sharing the same building on the same evening, neither one requiring a separate trip.
Writing from the Croatian market, the Rizik.hr Team notes that this pairing is exactly what defines the appeal. Atlantic City’s draw is how both things happen together in one night, one complex. Croatian fans who cannot make the transatlantic journey get a version of that same concert-night-plus-gaming combination delivered at home, and the editorial team points to Rizik as the platform that serves that audience locally.
“Making music can be so much fun. The creativity, being together, the three of us in a room. To be able to make a record, and then to tour and do it again. I feel really grateful.”
How a Hockey Sweatshirt Started a Band
Dogstar‘s origin sits somewhere between a pickup hockey game and a Los Angeles grocery aisle. Reeves, now 61, spotted drummer Robert Mailhouse, now 64, in 1991 wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweatshirt and asked if he knew of a nearby pickup game. A friendship followed, and so did a band.
“We lived in the same neighborhood, and we went to the same grocery store. And he was wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweatshirt. I asked him if he knew where there was a pickup game,” Reeves recalled. Mailhouse, for his part, went back to his Thursday-night skate in Burbank and told the group he thought he had found a goaltender. When Reeves showed up, Mailhouse said, he was genuinely good.
The early Dogstar featured singer Greg Miller, who fronted the band on a 1995 tour opening for Bon Jovi in Australia and New Zealand. Brett Domrose, now 57 and a film composer and former member of punk outfit the Nuns, replaced Miller before the debut album. Domrose and Mailhouse, who has acted in Days of Our Lives and CSI, completed a lineup that felt built to last — until it didn’t.
The band released Our Little Visionary in 1996 and followed it with Happy Ending in 2000. Two years later, Dogstar dissolved. Domrose was direct about why. “We’d been going through the meat grinder with different record labels. It wears you out,” he said. Reeves‘ career as Neo in the Matrix franchise, which launched in 1999, added another centrifugal force. There was no dramatic fallout among the musicians — just accumulated weight pulling the project apart.
Reeves as the Last Line of Defense
The pandemic created space that the three hadn’t had in years. Mailhouse described it plainly: “You rethink your life. You get together and find you have all this time and fewer distractions. That put us all in a good mood to get back and try some stuff.”
When they finally plugged back in, Reeves recalled, the connection was immediate. “We plugged in, and Robert picked up his sticks, and Brett put on his guitar… There it was.” Domrose had a similar reaction: “You slide into your old comfortable slippers. I felt it right away.”
What is notable about the reunion, and what distinguishes Dogstar from other actor-musician projects, is how deliberately Reeves stays out of the front. He has said he never harbored rock star ambitions beyond playing air guitar on a tennis racket. His role is bass and occasional backup vocals, and that is precisely where he wants to be.
Domrose reached for an analogy rooted in the same sport that brought the two men together. “You are the last line of defense as a bass player and a goalie. If the bass player drops out, you’ve got nothing.” Mailhouse extended it in a different direction: “He’s the melody of the team.”
All In Now and the Producer Who Shaped Its Sound
The band’s new album arrives with a sound the Inquirer describes as rugged yet melodic and grunge-adjacent, something that would sit comfortably alongside Bush, Stone Temple Pilots, and early Radiohead from the mid-1990s. That framing is not mere comparison shopping — it says something about where the band’s sensibility actually lives, regardless of the two-decade gap.
To record it, Dogstar landed producer Nick Launey, whose credits include Nick Cave and the BadSeeds, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Amyl and the Sniffers. Mailhouse was candid about the good fortune involved. “I mean all this work he’s done with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more recently, Amyl and the Sniffers. All these great bands, and now little old Dogstar. I think we got lucky.”
All In Now is actually Dogstar’s second album since the reunion. The band released Somewhere Between the Power Lines and the Palm Trees in 2023 and has since headlined shows and played festival dates across the United States and Europe. A third album is already on Reeves‘ mind.
Three Shows, One Film, and a Band With Forward Momentum
The Philadelphia-region run begins with the Atlantic City casino-resort date, followed by Union Transfer in Philadelphia on August 12 and the Hershey Theatre on August 18. The three venues represent a range — club, theater, and resort stage — that reflects a band operating with enough confidence to move through different formats without anchoring itself to any single one.
Reeves is also heading into production on a film called Shiver, directed by Tim Miller, in which he plays a Caribbean smuggler. He described it with characteristic economy: “Sharks… Time machine… Groundhog Day… Fun!” The film is due next year, meaning Dogstar’s current tour runs alongside a parallel career that shows no signs of quieting.
His words about the band, though, make clear where his investment sits. “This is our second album since we got back together. It’s exciting. So let’s make a third. Keep it going!”
Foo Fighters played Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Monday night, August 11, 2026, running through nearly three hours of material in front of a not-quite-full stadium. Dave Grohl, 57, led a band he has fronted for 31 years — and did so with the particular weight of a northeastern Ohio native returning to his own corner of the country.
Stadium Scale and the Digital Culture Behind a Night Like This
According to cleveland.com, the show stretched close to three hours inside a major NFL venue — the kind of event whose production infrastructure and cultural footprint extend well beyond the crowd in the seats. The Geek.hr Team, a Croatian technology and geek-culture editorial desk, covers exactly this intersection: the sound engineering, the screen walls, the catwalk staging geometries, and the online fan communities that record, stream, and collectively relive a stadium night long after the last note fades. Those phenomena — the machinery of live rock at stadium scale and the digital ecosystems that distribute and preserve it — represent the beat that GEEK HR covers for readers who track how technology reshapes live entertainment.
“Do you like rock n’ roll music? Well, tonight we’re gonna kick your ass with rock and roll!”
That early crowd address from Grohl set the register for the evening. What followed was as much a cultural event as a concert — one whose resonances a technology-oriented desk would find as instructive as any rock fan.
Grohl’s Ohio Roots Give the Night Personal Weight
Grohl is a native of Warren, Ohio, a northeastern Ohio city not far from Cleveland, and the trip back carried meaning well beyond the performance. During the run-up to the show, he visited his grandparents’ graves in Warren and Niles for the first time in 26 years, remarking onstage that the entire experience had been meaningful. The grave visits were not schtick. They were the private counterpart to the public night.
The homecoming extended to regional comedy. That same morning, Grohl caught a Cleveland-area tribute band called The Foo Fathers on Fox 8 local news. He brought it up from the stage, calling it “The weirdest morning I’ve ever had!” and crediting the group with “Taking Dad rock to a whole new level.” The anecdote landed because it was local and verifiable — a detail that only works in the specific city you’re actually standing in. He also dedicated “Times Like These” to fathers in the crowd, asking fans to turn and embrace their dads in the moment. The dad thread, comic and sincere at once, ran through the night.
A Hit-First Setlist Built Around Omission as Much as Inclusion
The band opened with four consecutive rock radio staples — “All My Life,” “The Pretender,” “Times Like These,” and “Rope” — a sequencing choice that reads less like a warm-up than a declaration. No gradual build, no deep cut to test the room. The crowd was handed the biggest cards first. What was absent mattered too.
Foo Fighters‘ 2026 album Your Favorite Toy did not appear anywhere in the set, despite being the band’s most recent record. The decision to leave new material off suggests a deliberate calculation: in a stadium still finding its footing emotionally after years of loss and lineup turbulence, familiar songs carry more shared weight than new ones.
Grohl kept younger fans oriented through banter that acknowledged the generational gap directly. Before playing “Big Me,” whose music video was a fixture on MTV’s “120 Minutes,” he gestured at the MTV-era references he’d been deploying and told the younger section of the crowd: “Kids, I know this sounds like Sanskrit, but it actually happened.” Then, practically, he told them to look sideways: “Look at your dad, and do what that 50-something-year-old (person) is doing!” The crowd mechanics were informal but precise — Grohl has been doing this long enough to know which levers to pull and when.
Memorial Threads Woven Into the Show’s Structure
The most structurally distinctive choice of the night was the band-introduction sequence. Rather than a conventional solo showcase, each member played a fragment from a former band. Guitarist Chris Shiflett drew from No Use For A Name‘s “Invincible.” Keyboardist Rami Jaffee recreated The Wallflowers‘ “One Headlight.” Pat Smear offered The Germs‘ “Manimal.” The format acknowledged history without sentimentalizing it — each member arrives from somewhere, and the band is the sum of those arrivals.
The memorial thread ran deeper. “Aurora,” one of the set’s deeper cuts, was dedicated to TaylorHawkins, the drummer who died in 2022 and whose absence has reshaped the band’s emotional public identity ever since. The dedication was quiet and direct, without elaboration. The closing piece carried the most weight of the night. “The Teacher,” a 10-minute prog-rock-adjacent track drawn from the band’s grief-fueled 11th album “But Here We Are,” ended the set.
Grohl dedicated it to his late mother Virginia, named her hometown of Boardman, and credited Ohio specifically with being a central force in sustaining the band across 31 years. The closer grounded the entire night in place and loss — not in spectacle or catalog dominance, but in the specific geography of grief that brought Grohl back to northeastern Ohio to stand in front of a not-quite-full stadium and mean every word of it.
Today, Girish and The Chronicles are thrilled to announce the release of their new studio album, Disintegrate, out on November 20th via Frontiers Music Srl.
Following the recent release of the latest single “Generation Coward,” the band now shares the title track, along with an official video, available below.
The band comments: “Disintegrate is about things falling apart, whether it’s relationships, dreams, or just life in general, and trying to keep going when they do. We don’t want to talk too much about what the songs are all about. We’d rather let everyone take their own meaning from them.”
As the title track, “Disintegrate” sits at the heart of the album and offers a glimpse into a different side of Girish and The Chronicles.
Over the last few years, Girish and The Chronicles have evolved from one of India’s best-kept hard rock secrets into a truly international force. Fueled by extensive European touring and a widely acclaimed appearance on the hit American television show “America’s Got Talent,” the band has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its audience far beyond its homeland and earning recognition among rock fans across the globe.
Now, with their highly anticipated new album for Frontiers Music Srl, Girish and The Chronicles take another step forward. While staying true to the melodic hard rock and classic heavy metal foundations that have always shaped their sound, the band has also explored some new territory on ‘Disintegrate.’
The band comments: “With this album, we just wanted to play around with the sound a bit. It’s heavier, groovier, and darker in places, with some alternative elements coming through, but it still feels like GATC. We didn’t want to overthink it. We just went with what sounded good.
They continue: “There are definitely some different sides of us on this record, both musically and lyrically, and we just want our old and new fans to hear it for themselves.”
At the heart of it all is frontman Girish Pradhan, whose unmistakable voice continues to set the band apart. Possessing a rare combination of power, range, grit, and emotion, Girish channels the spirit of the great rock singers of the past while maintaining a personality and charisma that are entirely his own.
This new release captures a band continuing to grow while staying true to the spirit, passion, and songwriting that have defined Girish and The Chronicles from day one.
Disintegrate is the sound of Girish and The Chronicles moving forward while remaining true to who they are.
Sensory Records presents the compelling eponymous debut from Thomas Miller’s Lazarus Effect, the new venture from the former founding Symphony X bassist.
Thomas Miller started his music career in central New Jersey and played in numerous cover and original bands influenced by progressive bands from the 1970s and 1980s. In 1986, he met Michael Romeo, a local progressive and classically influenced guitarist, with whom he then recorded and played in several bands. In 1994, they formed Symphony X and recruited the rest of the band members to complete the lineup and sign with Japanese record label Zero Records.
After international critical acclaim for their albums Symphony X, Damnation Game, The Divine Wings Of Tragedy, Twilight In Olympus, and A Prelude To The New Millenium, they did various tour dates in Japan, Europe, and NYC. Shortly afterwards, due to personal issues, Thomas stepped away from the band.
Continually writing and recording on various projects and honing his writing skills, Miller collaborated on a recording project with vocalist Hollywood How Portney in 2017, and after interactions with fans over the years and realizing his chemistry with How, he decided to start writing for a new project, which would become Thomas Miller’s Lazarus Effect. Two former Symphony X bandmates, guitarist Michael Romeo and keyboardist Michael Pinnella, would also lend their talents to the project, and Eric Rachel – producer of Symphony X’s first six albums as well as Black Sabbath, The Black Dahlia Murder and countless others – was enlisted to mix and master the album, which is completed with art and design by Rodrigo Gudiña.
The result is an epic, forty-nine-minute progressive metal opus, inspired by majestic themes and various musical overtones. Fans of Symphony X, Dream Theater, Circus Maximus, Redemption, Kamelot, and other grand progressive metal acts should immediately check out Thomas Miller’s Lazarus Effect.
The lead single from Thomas Miller’s Lazarus Effect arrives through the album’s sixth track, “When Darkness Falls,” about which the project’s mastermind states, “I wrote ‘When Darkness Falls’ as more of a straight-ahead, in-your-face metal song for the album with a classical shadow due to its harmonic minor content. The song came together within about an hour, and the lyrics and harmonies worked perfectly for How’s vocals.”
Sensory Records will release Thomas Miller’s Lazarus Effect on CD, LP, and digital platforms on October 30th. Pre-orders are available on Bandcamp.
Legendary Norwegian extreme metal innovators Extol have officially announced their return. On November 6, the band will release its sixth full-length album, Aura of Decay, via Solid State Records, marking its first album since the critically acclaimed 2013 self-titled release. The release features the classic lineup, with Christer Espevoll rejoining the fold.
Crafted over an extensive writing and recording period, the upcoming album represents a deeply considered and, at times, painful labor of love. The meticulous production spanned multiple creative hubs, with tracking taking place across Hawk Studios, Little Cave Studio, and Hrada Creative. To bring the sonic scenery to life, the record was handed over to master engineer JensBogren at Fascination Street Studios, who handled mixing and mastering duties.
Adding a striking visual dimension to the release, renowned artist Hugh Syme created the album artwork.
Musically, Extol continues their fearless tradition of charting unknown waters while retaining the distinct signature that has defined the band for decades. The songwriting, complex arrangements, and unmistakable sonic language remain firmly anchored in the adventurous spirit fans have come to expect. Furthermore, in a nod that will delight longtime supporters, echoes of the raw, black-metal-tinged atmospheres reminiscent of their seminal album Burial surface throughout the album.
The track offers a labyrinthine sonic journey into the heart of modern tribalism. The song views the highly polarized ideological landscape through a veil of ancient philosophy, challenging listeners to question the mechanisms driving our current global divide. The single is now streaming worldwide.
Musically, “The One and The Many” relies on erratic, unconventional structures and jarring shifts to evoke a sense of psychological collapse. Lyrically, the band explores the intersection of modern tribalism and relativization of postmodernism in light of the ancient philosophical puzzle the one and the many. How does a collective society shatter into fiercely hostile tribes in today’s post-modern fog? The lyrics leave clues for the listener to decode the tensions between individual identity and systemic erosion.
“We are living in an era where truth feels relative, yet tribal dogmas seem to be strengthening,” says guitarist Espevoll. “We wanted the song to mirror that confusion. It is an invitation to look beneath the surface noise of the internet and reflect on how sanctimonious religious and political practices are fed and kept alive by ideology.”
GRAMMY-winning guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela have shared “Akatsuki,” a sweeping new single featuring Japanese jazz virtuoso Hiromi, alongside an accompanying video. The track appears on the duo’s forthcoming album, OurHome, due September 18th via ATO Records.
Named for the secret organization of mercenary ninjas in the seminal manga series Naruto, “Akatsuki” reflects Rodrigo y Gabriela‘s long-standing love of anime and the profound influence Japanese culture has had on their creative relationship with Japan. The idea emerged while Quintero was watching the series during late nights in the studio as the duo worked on early demos in Los Angeles. Drawn to the emotional depth of the Akatsuki storyline and the character Pain, she suggested the title to Sánchez. Months later, after watching the series himself, he agreed it perfectly captured the spirit of the composition. Expansive, searching, and charged with moody grandeur, the instrumental piece draws from Naruto’s exploration of Buddhist cosmology, rebirth, compassion, and the shifting boundaries between hero and villain.
Across the track, Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero weave shadowy guitar lines and tempestuous rhythms around Hiromi’s gorgeously mercurial piano work. The result brings together three musicians whose highly physical approaches to their instruments blur the boundaries between melody, rhythm, and percussion.
“It’s so amazing to watch Hiromi play,” says Sánchez. “She was a child prodigy, but she has this incredible energy and adds a lot of percussive sounds – almost like us, but on piano instead of guitar.”
For Hiromi, the collaboration also carried a special connection to place and the ideas that inspired the composition.
“It was so nice to have them in my home country, and playing the beautiful piece inspired by Japanese manga,” says Hiromi. “I hope we can play the piece for the audience one day! Would be so much fun!”
The collaboration also reflects one of the album’s central ideas: bringing together artists whose shared admiration for Japanese culture created an unusually organic musical conversation.
The release also arrives alongside the announcement of new January 2027 headline dates across Australia and Japan. Rodrigo y Gabriela will perform in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, and Perth before returning to Japan for shows in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. The Japanese dates carry particular meaning within the OurHome cycle, bringing the duo back to the country where the album was recorded and where their long-standing connection to Japanese music, art, and culture found its fullest expression.
Tickets for the newly announced dates will be available through a series of pre-sales beginning August 19th. Fan club pre-sales for both Australia and Japan begin Wednesday, August 19th at 5 pm local time, followed by artist pre-sales on Thursday, August 20th at 9 am local time. General on-sale begins Friday, August 28th at 9 am local time in Australia and Saturday, September 12th at 10:00 am JST in Japan. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit here.
Recorded in Japan and self-produced by Sánchez and Quintero at NK Sound Tokyo, OurHome is the culmination of Rodrigo y Gabriela‘s decades-long artistic relationship with Japan. After a period of creative frustration and uncertainty, Rodrigo y Gabriela found renewed inspiration in a country they have returned to throughout their two-decade-plus career, rediscovering the expressive acoustic interplay that first defined their sound while forging new creative connections with Japanese musicians and artists.
“We’ve always felt drawn to Japan because of the art and aesthetics and attention to beauty,” says Quintero. “There’s also something about being there that invites you to look inward, to reconnect with who you really are and what gives you meaning.”
In a profound shift from the electric-guitar-heavy sound of 2023’s In Between Thoughts…A New World, OurHome returns to the textural fluidity of acoustic instrumentation, a natural counterpart to the album’s spacious and often strikingly delicate arrangements. Alongside Hiromi, the album features former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman, cellist Hiyori Okuda, and Kyoto-based guitarist and composer Yukihiro Atsumi.
Mixed by five-time GRAMMY winner Dave Sardy, whose credits include The Who, Oasis, and RedHot Chili Peppers, and mastered by Stephen Marcussen, whose credits include Nirvana, R.E.M., and The Rolling Stones, OurHome draws from manga, mythology, migration, philosophy, nature, and personal transformation while remaining rooted in the kinetic musical dialogue that has defined Rodrigo y Gabriela’s career.
“Akatsuki” follows the release of the album’s title track, “OurHome,” a sublimely tender composition written by Sánchez following the passing of the duo’s beloved studio cat, Pelusa. Her death came after months of creative stagnation and unexpectedly helped unlock the direction of the album.
“Before her passing, we were searching for ideas in a way that felt very pressured and forced,” says Quintero. “Then the day after she died, Rod wrote a song for Pelusa and suddenly everything started to flow. It was like she was telling us, ‘Stop fucking around and just do what you do best’ – which meant playing from our hearts with no agenda.”
The title OurHome emerged later during a walk through Melbourne following a Japan and Australia tour. As Rodrigo and Gabriela discussed the meaning of belonging, they passed a public housing tower bearing a large sign that read “OUR HOME.” A photograph Sánchez took in that moment ultimately became the album cover.
“At the end of the tour we were walking around Melbourne and talking about the idea of home,” says Quintero. “It’s easy to get caught up in trying to please others so that you’ll feel like you belong, but to us home means finding peace within yourself instead of seeking external approval. As we were walking, we passed by a public housing tower, and there was a huge sign out front saying ‘OUR HOME.’ It felt like a message from the universe, telling us we were on the right path.”
“Akatsuki” is one of several songs on OurHome inspired by Japanese storytelling. The album’s first single, “Monster,” grew from Rodrigo y Gabriela‘s fascination with Naoki Urasawa‘s landmark psychological thriller of the same name. The darkly cinematic composition arrived alongside an official video created by Urasawa after he learned the duo had written a song inspired by his work.
One of Japan’s most celebrated manga artists, Urasawa is the acclaimed creator of Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, and Master Keaton, with over 140 million copies of his work sold worldwide.
“Monster is such a deep, philosophical story – it’s about a psychopathic killer, but it’s so uplifting and leaves you with a real sense of hope,” says Quintero. “We’d written that track without knowing that Urasawa was a fan of ours, and now he’s making the video for us.”
Together, “Akatsuki,” “Monster,” and the title track reveal the range of the dreamlike world Rodrigo y Gabriela have created on OurHome: an album populated by rogue monsters, celestial birds, stardust, ancient philosophy, and the idea that peace can be found wherever we learn to reconnect with ourselves.
“Japan is a magical place for us, and every time we go there we love it more,” says Sánchez. “But we also realize the way we feel there isn’t only because of Japan itself – it’s a state of being we could really access anywhere.”
As they prepare to bring OurHome to audiences around the world, Rodrigo y Gabriela hope the album offers listeners a similar sense of grounding amid the chaos of modern life.
“Every day we face so many challenges, whether it’s economic crisis or ecological crisis or political crisis, so we need to protect what makes us feel safe and connected to our true essence,” says Quintero. “We made this album to celebrate what helps us to find that home within ourselves, and we hope it inspires everyone to figure out what home means to them. It’s a very powerful thing, because nobody can ever take it away from you.”
OurHome arrives September 18 via ATO Records and is available now for pre-order and pre-save here.
Down is gearing up for its next chapter. The band’s fifth full-length, Volume V, arrives November 20 via Nuclear Blast Records, and the quintet has kicked things off with a new single, “Blood Oath.”
Thirty-plus years in, Down still runs on the same fuel: a set of friendships that trace back to childhood in New Orleans. That chemistry between Philip Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, Kirk Windstein, Jimmy Bower and Pat Bruders is exactly what’s kept the band’s sludgy, groove-heavy sound distinct from anything the members do on their own.
“We were all excited about this,” smiles Anselmo. “There was a sense of lightness in the air. Everyone’s attitude was positive. There was more focus than ever. It just felt fresh again. Each one of us was individually striving for something, and I believe we achieved what we wanted to achieve. The record is a journey. It’s classic Down, but it’s also unique.”
“Everybody played their asses off, wrote great riffs, and Philip is singing amazing,” adds Windstein. “There’s so much electricity when we get together. To me, it’s the same vibe as our debut NOLA, but we’ve got another 35 years of experience as songwriters.”
“The five of us are from the same era, grew up together, and accomplished a lot on our own,” Keenan observes: “We all sounded different, but we’re still from the same 20-block radius. As far as what makes Down special, we knew one another before any of us had done anything. There’s history.”
That history runs deep. All five crossed paths as teenagers playing in local New Orleans bands, then went their separate ways to build reputations elsewhere — Anselmo fronting Pantera, Keenan handling guitar and vocals in Corrosion of Conformity, Windstein leading Crowbar, Bower slinging riffs in Eyehategod.
Most of Volume V came together across two writing sessions at Anselmo‘s home studio, Nodferatu’s Lair — the same clubhouse setup the band has leaned on since Down II. The songs were built in the room together rather than assembled remotely, with the material taking shape throughout 2025. Keenan and Windstein tracked guitars side by side, which gives the record a live, unified punch.
Opener “The Myth” sets the tone early with a powerhouse vocal and pummeling rhythm work. “Merciful Fate” brings in King Diamond for a vocal duel against Anselmo, backed by solos clocking in around 120 bpm — Diamond‘s wife, Livia Zita, adds her own dark touches to the track as well. Closer “Twice-Told Tales” brings the record home on a heavier, more hypnotic note. “It’s a conglomerate of tight riffs and blues rock mixed with the diligence of classic metal,” Anselmo reveals. “It’s an important song to us. I could feel Ozzy Osbourne‘s influence on me in the strangest way.”
Lead single “Blood Oath” leans on a riff that’s as hard-hitting as it is hummable, building to a chorus built for shouting along. The New Orleans references are baked in from the start.
“Anybody who’s from New Orleans is going to get a kick out of the references to the city,” grins Anselmo. “Musically, it’s got a big hook. It’s a Down song, but it takes a turn.”
“You’ll know it’s Down right off the fucking bat”, adds Keenan. “It’s heavy in its attack.”
Volume V was produced by Eddie Mapp and Down, mixed by Dave Fortman, and mastered by Maor Appelbaum at Maor Appelbaum Mastering in California.
Down is currently on the road for its North American headlining run, with Helmet and Spirit in the Room in support.
Down‘s origin story goes back to a 1991 jam session that produced a three-song demo — a tape that eventually laid the groundwork for the platinum-selling NOLA in 1995. Metal Hammer called it a rock classic outright, and Stereogum credited it with defining how the rest of the world hears Deep South metal. Since then, the band has delivered Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow (2002), Down III: Over the Under (2007), and the two-part Down IV (2012, 2014), while sharing stages with Metallica, Heaven & Hell, Danzig and Melvins and playing festivals like Aftershock, Louder Than Life, Hellfest and Sick New World. Revolver has ranked the band among the greatest supergroups in hard rock and metal history.
Down is:
Philip Anselmo / Vocals Pepper Keenan / Guitars Jimmy Bower / Drums Kirk Windstein / Guitars Pat Bruders / Bass
In August 1981, little more than two years after the all-female south London metal band Girlschool launched itself onto the U.K. club scene, the group headlined the first night of the annual Reading Festival — the first female rock band ever to do so, and, all these years later, still the only one. The performance is being commemorated with Nothin’ To Lose In Reading 1981, an archival live album due Sept. 25 on CD and red-and-white spatter vinyl via Silver Lining Music. The release is previewed today by a single of the title track, “Nothin’ To Lose (Live In Reading 1981).”
The day itself was not without its pre-show disasters: the band’s hired car — a pink Cadillac said to have belonged to actress Jayne Mansfield — arrived at the venue “broken and rattling” after a fender bender; one roadie restrung lead guitarist Kelly Johnson’s guitar with two D strings; and the band’s flashing neon backdrop was sabotaged by another act on the bill. Johnson, however, was unfazed.
“The thing with Kelly is, she was such a genius and natural player, you could put anything in front of her and she could play it,” says rhythm guitarist and vocalist Kim McAuliffe. “She had an instinct. I used to watch her onstage sometimes, and I was quite amazed by her. She was such an incredible presence on stage. [The roadie] could probably have handed her a guitar with four strings and she’d still have been brilliant. I don’t think having two strings the same would have bothered her at all.”
For McAuliffe, the moment carried extra personal resonance: “I’d been there a couple of years before, standing on the other side in the mud, with this big plastic bag thing over me and knee deep in mud,” she recalls. “So happy to be there, grinning away, having the time of my life. Little did I know I’d actually be headlining a couple of years later. It was absolutely nuts.”
“We had the biggest pyrotechnic flashpots ever. Huge things. And apparently they could be heard seven miles away, so we were pleased about that. People wondering what the hell was going on with these massive bangs,” McAuliffe adds. The track “Future Flash” — fired off alongside the pyrotechnics — did not make it onto tape, the explosions likely having overloaded the recording equipment.
The set, dominated by the band’s then-current album Hit And Run (1981), also dips back to their debut, 1980’s Demolition, and closes with the signature Gun cover “Race With The Devil.”
Nothin’ To Lose In Reading 1981 is the first of five archive live albums scheduled from Girlschool over the coming months. The band is also planning a new studio album for 2028 to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the follow-up to WTFortyfive? (July 2023, Silver Lining Music).
Girlschool originated in the U.K. during the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene in 1978, formed from a school band called Painted Lady by McAuliffe and bassist Enid Williams. Closely associated with contemporaries and friends Mötorhead, the band is the longest-running all-female rock band in history. Original members McAuliffe and drummer Denise Dufort remain in the lineup today; lead guitarist Johnson died of cancer in 2007 and was replaced by Jackie Chambers in 1999. Current bassist Olivia Airey is the niece of renowned Deep Purple and Rainbow keyboardist Don Airey.
Girlschool 2026 is:
Kim McAuliffe / Rhythm guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals Denise Dufort / Drums Olivia Airey / Bass guitar Jackie Chambers / Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals
